The Supreme Law issued a decision to amend the judicial interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law, which will take effect on April 10th.

　　According to the news of the Supreme People’s Court WeChat WeChat official account on April 2nd, on March 22nd, 2022, the 1866th plenary session of the the Supreme People’s Court Judicial Committee deliberated and adopted the Decision of the Supreme People’s Court on Amending the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) (Fa Shi [2022] No.11, hereinafter referred to as the Decision), which will take effect on April 10th, 2022.

　　The civil procedure law is the basic rule to regulate the civil procedure and the basic procedural legal basis for the people’s court to hear and execute civil cases. On December 24th, 2021, the 32nd meeting of the 13th the NPC Standing Committee deliberated and adopted the Decision on Amending the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC), which revised the judicial confirmation procedure, summary procedure and small claims procedure, exclusive system procedure, online litigation and delivery rules, and added seven articles, and the overall order of the articles changed. After the revision of the Civil Procedure Law, the serial numbers of articles in the Civil Procedure Law quoted in the Supreme People’s Court’s Interpretation of the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) (hereinafter referred to as the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law) are inconsistent with the new civil procedure law, and the expressions of relevant articles need to be adjusted urgently.

　　In order to effectively implement the new Civil Procedure Law, in January 2022, the Supreme People’s Court initiated the revision of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law. Under the strong guidance of the the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) Law Working Committee, after investigation in the courts of Shanghai and Nantong, and soliciting opinions from experts and scholars and relevant departments in the hospital, the Decision was formed and passed by the the Supreme People’s Court Judicial Committee.

　　Based on the actual trial work, the "Decision" adheres to the demand orientation and adapts the serial number and expression of the provisions of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law in strict accordance with the relevant provisions of the new Civil Procedure Law, with a total of 16 provisions. The main contents are as follows:

　　The first is to amend the relevant provisions on extending the trial time limit for summary procedure cases. In contrast to the provisions of Article 164 of the new Civil Procedure Law, the conditions for extending the trial period of summary procedure cases are changed from "both parties agree to continue to apply summary procedure" to "there are special circumstances that need to be extended", and the longest trial period of summary procedure cases is changed from six months to four months.

　　The second is to modify the relevant provisions of program conversion and program objection. In contrast to the provisions of Article 170 of the new Civil Procedure Law, the conditions for converting a summary procedure into an ordinary procedure are changed from "the case is complicated" to "the summary procedure is not applicable", so as to reserve space for further refining the procedure conversion standard. At the same time, if it is clear that the objection of the parties to the application of summary procedure or small claims procedure is not established, the people’s court shall make a ruling to reject it, and the ruling may be made orally.

　　The third is to modify the provision of simple and convenient service of litigation documents. According to the provisions of the new Civil Procedure Law on electronic service, it is clear that the people’s court can summon both parties, notify witnesses and serve litigation documents by taking a message, telephone, text message, fax and email in accordance with the provisions of Articles 90 and 162 of the Civil Procedure Law.

　　The fourth is to amend the relevant provisions of small claims cases. According to the provisions of Articles 165 and 166 of the new Civil Procedure Law, the provisions of Articles 274 and 275 of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law on the specific application and non-application of the types of small-sum litigation procedures are deleted; Adjust the standard of the amount of the subject matter of small claims in maritime and maritime cases, and allow the parties to choose the application according to law.

　　The fifth is to amend the relevant provisions on joint jurisdiction of judicial confirmation cases. According to the provisions of Article 201 of the new civil procedure law on the jurisdiction of judicial confirmation cases, the jurisdiction of judicial confirmation cases that mediation organizations conduct mediation on their own is modified adaptively.

　　Sixth, adjust the serial number of the articles in the cited civil procedure law and the order of the articles in the judicial interpretation itself. This is a technical operation problem that needs to be solved urgently in trial practice. Considering that this revision needs to adjust more than 200 serial numbers of articles in the Civil Procedure Law, and the order of articles in the judicial interpretation itself also needs to be adjusted, the Decision adheres to the principle of simplification, and unifies the revision of the serial numbers of articles in the Civil Procedure Law Interpretation and the order of articles in the Civil Procedure Law Interpretation itself through two articles. At the same time as the "Decision" was promulgated, the new version of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law was published, so that people’s courts at all levels can accurately quote the corresponding provisions of judicial interpretation.

　　In addition, the "Decision" has also revised some written expressions. If the "maintenance fee" in Articles 9 and 218 is changed to "maintenance fee", it will ensure that the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law is consistent with the new Civil Procedure Law and other laws.

　　Other contents of the Interpretation of the Civil Procedure Law need to be further revised and improved according to the new civil procedure law. We will strengthen the investigation of trial practice, solicit opinions extensively, and make timely and steady progress.

　　The Decision of the Supreme People’s Court on Amending the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) was adopted at the 1866th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court on March 22, 2022. It is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of April 10, 2022.

　　the Supreme People’s Court

　　April 1, 2022

　　Fa Shi [2022] No.11

Decision of the Supreme People’s Court on Amending the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC)

　　(adopted at the 1866th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court on March 22nd, 2022,

　　Effective as of April 10, 2022)

　　On December 24th, 2021, the 32nd meeting of the 13th the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) deliberated and adopted the Decision of the NPC Standing Committee on Amending the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC). According to the revised Civil Procedure Law, combined with the actual civil trial and execution work of the people’s court, the 1866th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court decided to make the following amendments to the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC):

　　1. Article 9 is amended as: "If several defendants in cases of recovery of alimony, alimony and alimony are not domiciled in the same jurisdiction, they may be under the jurisdiction of the people’s court where the plaintiff is domiciled."

　　II. Article 45 is amended as: "A judge who participated in the trial of this case in one trial procedure shall not participate in the trial of other procedures of this case.

　　"If a case remanded for retrial enters the procedure of second instance after the judgment of the court of first instance, the judges in the original procedure of second instance shall not be restricted by the provisions of the preceding paragraph."

　　III. Article 48 is amended as: "The judicial personnel mentioned in Article 47 of the Civil Procedure Law include the presidents and vice presidents of the people’s courts, members of the judicial committees, presidents, vice presidents, judges and people’s jurors who participated in the trial of this case."

　　IV. Article 61 is amended as: "If one party fails to perform the mediation agreement and the other party brings a lawsuit to the people’s court after the dispute between the parties has been reached through mediation by the people’s mediation committee or other mediation organizations established according to law, the other party shall be the defendant."

　　5. Article 218th is amended as: "After the judgment of alimony, alimony and alimony becomes legally effective, if one party brings a lawsuit to increase or decrease the expenses due to new circumstances and new reasons, the people’s court shall accept it as a new case."

　　6. Article 258 is amended as: "If there are special circumstances that need to be extended after the expiration of the trial period of a case that is tried by summary procedure, the trial period may be extended with the approval of the president of our hospital. The extended trial period shall not exceed four months in total.

　　"If the people’s court finds that the case is not suitable for summary procedure and needs to be transferred to ordinary procedure, it shall make a ruling before the expiration of the trial period and notify both parties in writing of the judges and related matters.

　　"If the case is transferred to the ordinary procedure, the trial period shall be calculated from the date when the people’s court files the case."

　　7. Article 261 is amended as: "When a case is tried by summary procedure, the people’s court may summon both parties, notify witnesses and serve litigation documents by taking a message, telephone, text message, fax or email in accordance with the provisions of Articles 90 and 162 of the Civil Procedure Law.

　　"The people’s court shall not make a judgment by default if the notice of hearing served in a simple way has not been confirmed by the parties or there is no other evidence to prove that the parties have received it.

　　"When a case is tried by summary procedure, the judge shall be the sole judge and the clerk shall be the record."

　　8. Article 269 is amended as: "If the parties object to the application of summary procedure in a case, and the people’s court finds that the objection is established after examination, the ruling shall be converted into ordinary procedure; If the objection is not established, the ruling shall be rejected. If the ruling is made orally, it shall be recorded in the record.

　　"For ordinary procedures, the people’s court shall notify both parties of the judges and related matters in writing.

　　"The facts that have been confirmed by both parties before being transferred to ordinary procedures can no longer be given evidence and cross-examined."

　　9. Article 273rd is amended as: "A maritime court may try maritime and maritime cases by applying the procedure of small claims. The amount of the subject matter of the case shall be calculated on the basis of the average annual salary of employed persons in the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the maritime court actually accepted the case or its dispatched court is located. "

　　10. Delete Articles 274th and 275th.

　　11. Article 281 is renumbered as Article 279 and amended as: "If a party has any objection to hearing a small-sum lawsuit, it shall raise it before the court session. If the people’s court finds that the objection is established after examination, other provisions on summary procedure shall apply to the trial or the ruling shall be converted into ordinary procedure; If the objection is not established, the ruling shall be rejected. If the ruling is made orally, it shall be recorded in the transcript. "

　　12. Article 349 is renumbered as Article 347, which is amended as: "In a lawsuit, if an interested party or relevant organization of a party claims that the party concerned cannot identify or fully identify his own behavior, and requests to declare that the party concerned has no capacity for civil conduct or has limited capacity for civil conduct, the interested party or relevant organization shall apply to the people’s court, and the people’s court against whom the lawsuit is filed shall hear the case according to special procedures, and the original lawsuit shall be suspended."

　　13. Article 353 is renumbered as Article 351 and amended as: "To apply for judicial confirmation of a mediation agreement, both parties shall apply in person or by an agent conforming to Article 61 of the Civil Procedure Law in accordance with Article 201 of the Civil Procedure Law."

　　14. Article 354 is renumbered as Article 352, which is amended as: "Where two or more mediation organizations participate in the mediation conducted by the mediation organizations themselves, the people’s courts where the mediation organizations meet the provisions of Article 201 of the Civil Procedure Law have jurisdiction.

　　"Both parties may jointly file an application with one of the people’s courts with jurisdiction that meets the provisions of Article 201 of the Civil Procedure Law; If both parties jointly file an application with two or more people’s courts with jurisdiction, it shall be under the jurisdiction of the people’s court that filed the case first. "

　　15. The serial numbers of relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law quoted in the provisions shall be adjusted accordingly according to the revised Civil Procedure Law.

　　Sixteen, the order of the provisions shall be adjusted accordingly.

　　This decision shall come into force as of April 10, 2022.

　　According to this decision, the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) is revised and re-promulgated.